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THE  ARIZONA  GOLD  FIELDS 


TEETB  LOCATION    AND  RICHNE3S. 


The   Capital   of   the  Sew  Territory— The 
Natajo  War. 


V\\  k 


[Correspondence  of  the  Evening  Post.l 
Samta  Fb,  Nbw  Mexico,  November  83, 1303. 
The  officers  or  the  new  territory  of  Arizona 
reached  here  on  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  instant, 
after  a  journey  of  fifty  day*  trom  Leavenworth. 
They  were  accompanied  by  an  escort  of  cavalry, 
and  a  heavy  train,  which  rendered  rapid  travel  im- 
possible. They  are  in  excellent  health,  and  havo 
stood  the  exposures  of  the  trip  remarkably  well. 
AU  the  way  from  Fort  Lamed  they  experienced 
unusually  severe  weather  for  the  season,  encoun- 
tering two  Bnow  storms,  and  a  temperature  at 
Fort  Lyon  and  elsewhere  far  below  the  freoiina; 
point.  Indeed,  the  autumn  thns  far  has  been  one 
of  the  coldest  known  on  the  plains  lor  many  years, 
and  very  tryina:  to  the  traveller.  Since  the  arrival 
of  the  party  &t  this  place  they  have  been  snrroun  1- 
•d  by  snow,  and  have  had  to  baffle  iinasu-lly 
high  winds.  Some  of  the  roads  leading  from  Santa 
V6  have  been  quite  blocked  up  with  snow. .  That 
to  the  valley  of  Taos  was  for  some  days  irapiesable. 
The  erection  of  Arizona  into  a  distinct  territory 
Las  attracted  especial  attention  to  a  district  hit'ior-  . 
to  almost  a  terra  incognita.  With  a  view  to  facili- 
tate the  organization  of  the  civil  government,  Bri-  I 
gadicrGeneml  James  H.  Carleton,  commanding 
the  department,  has  sent  expeditions  to  different 
parts  of  tho  territory  and  established  military 
poets  at  points  where  the  Indians  were  disposed 
to  be  troubleeonie.  Before  the  golden  placers  on 
the  upper  Gila,  and  its  tributaries,  the  Aqua  Fria, 
Ban  Francitco  and  So'inos,  were  discovered,  he  ' 
had  perfected  a  plan  for  the  exploration  of  fiat 
Whole  country,  having  no  doubt  of  its  auriferous 
Wealth.  Few  military  officer:1  on  the  frontier  have 
shown  such  a  praiseworthy  determination  as  h*8 
General  Carleton,  for  twenty  years  past,  to  pro- 
mote the  development  and  settlement  of  the 
domain  under  bis  control.  His  good  name  must 
ever  be  honorably  associated  with  the  territories 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and  the  entire  Pacific 
region. 

THS  NBW  OOI.T)  FIELDS. 

The  most  thorough  and  accurate  report  of  the 
Hew  and  surpassingly  rieh  gold  fiiilds  of  Arizona  is 
given  in  the  letter  'of  Sort «yor-<Jener»J  Clinic,  of 
this  territory,  to  General  fjarleton,  at  whoso  in- 
stance he  went  from  here  In  .Tuiy  lasr,  to  eximine 
into  aBd  report  npon  the  discoveries,  their  extent 
and  probable  yield.  He  reached  tho  diggings  on 
the  19th  of  August,  and  spent  some  weeks  in  visit- 
ing and  carefully  observing  the  various  mining 
locations.  They  are  mainly  npon  fie  western 
branches  of  Aqua  Fria,  which  has  Its  rise  some  fifty  t 
miles  southwesterly  from  the  San  Francisco  Moun- 
tain (ybicli  may  be  considered  the  geographical 
centra  of  the  territory),  and  runs  into  the  Gila 
river  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  Rio  San  Francisco, 
and  about  filly  miles  west  of  tai>t&treum."  Most  of  I 
the  miners  at  work  on  the  General's  arrival  wore 
Californians,  who  had  entered  the  district  from  La 
Paz,  on  the  Colorado  river,  a  distauce  ol  sora  i  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  A  few  Sonorlans  had 
come  up  by  way  of  Tubac,  Tucson  and  the  Pima 
Tillages,  from  which  hitter  point  the  diggings  are  " 
about  one  hnndred  and  fifty  miles  in  a  direction 
little  west  of  north. 


The  mines  thus  far  developed  extend  over  a 
tract  of  country  from  twenty  to  flirty  miles  in 
■width,  and  atiout  one  hundred  and  twanty-.lve  in 
length.  On  marly  every  claim  worked  to  tb 
rock  gold  is  found  in  paring  quantities, 
mostj'c'markable  place,  discovered  by  oac  J;;-* 
Swilling,  a  noted  character  from  this  territory,  is 
on  the  summit  of  Antelope  mountain,  betwcoa  the 
Antelope  and  Indian  creeks.  Thero  is  a.  depression 
between  two  rocky  peaks,  through  wtiic  i  there  is 
a  qnurtz  lodge  cropping  ont.  The  solid  roc's  on 
cither  side  of  this  ledge  is  covered  wita  a  redd \sh 
earth  a  lew  inches  in  depth.  Swilling  had  i 
twenty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  the  precious  ore 
from  this  place  within  a  te.v  weeks.  The  8j»ecl- 
rnene  shown  General  Clark  were  all  coarse.  Iu  a 
parcel  worth  six  hundred  dollars  he  could  n  it  ilud 
a  piece  worth  lots  than  ten  cents,  and  Swilling  nad 
one  nugget  weighing  quite  half  a  pound.  Much 
of  the  mm.  ral  had  been  dug  out  with  common 
Jack  knives,  and  many  of  the  miners  were  entirely 
engaged  in  dry  washing,  owing  to  a  lie  i  o.  wat;r. 
This  would  appear  to  be  the  principal  drawback 
With  which  tiio  gold-seekers  will  have  to  coatend. 
Bcarccly  one  oTthe  many  creeks  could  be  depend- 
ed upon  lor  a  supply  of  water  more  than  s  alB-dent 
for  drinking  purposes.  How  it  wiil  be  in  the  wet 
season  remains  to  be  seen. 

It  if  the  prevailing  opinion  among  the  minors, 
and  with  those  hero  who  are  familiar  with  tao 
configuration  of  the  country  east  of  the  present 
dlgg.ngf,  that  the  gold  deposits  extaud  in  that 
direction,  and  that  tho  richest  beds  are  yet  to  be 
discovered.  The  Indians  are  said  to  hoid  tuis  view, 
bnt  to  show  no  desire  to  encourage  investigitioa. 
Where  the  miners  are  now  ai  worx  taay  are 
friendly,  and  have  interposed  no  interfereaea.  It 
Is  said  that  several  of  tUe  tribes  have  made  a  tre  ity 
With  the  white  men,  not  only  to  permit  them  to 
dig  wiierevcr  they  please,  but  to  defend  them 
against  the.  attacks  of  hostile  tribi  s.  Tuo  Tonto 
Apachces  live  just  about  the  placers,  and  are  en- 
tirely dificrent  from  the  Apaeuee3  infesting  taa 
wood  trom  Mesilla  Valley  to  Tucson,  waose  atro- 
cities drove  the  Sonora  (now  Arizoaa)  and  Santa 
Rita  mining  companies  from  their  opart. i jus  at 
Tubac  several  years  since.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  as  the  gold-seekers  move  ei3tward  tnay  wid 
encounter  tnose  inveterate  plundarers  aud  aasis- 
Bins,  and  have  to  deal  them  many  hard  blows  be- 
fore they  reform  their  ways.  Wita  tho  aid  of 
General  Carleton  tiiey  will,  however,  soon  over- 
power the  tribe,  bold  and  numerous  as  it  is. 

TUB  BOUTE8  TO  TOE  MINES. 

To  the  time  of  General  Clark's  vis  t  no  one  had 
gone  from  the  East  to  the  mines.  Since  than  m  iny 
adventurous  spirits  have  Soaked  t'uituer  from  this 
City,  and  indeed  from  every  portion  of  the  territo- 
ry and  from  Colorado.  The  road  is  by  Aiaj- 
querque,  Fort  Wingate  and  the  Zuui  Pass  (the 
Whipple  route)  to  the  San  Francisco  Moantaiu, 
and  thence  southwesterly  one  hundred  miles. 
The  entire  distance  from  bere,  as  estimated  oy 
General  Clark,  is  five  hundred  and  sixteen  miles. 
There  is  no  post,  nor  even  a  rane  J,  west  of  vVia- 
gale,  which  is  but  ninety  miles  from  the  it.o 
Grande.  The  road  is,  however,  a  very  good  one, 
and  for  I' ii  most  part  well  wooded  and  watered, 
while  the  grass  is  generally  abundant.  Those  in- 
tereoUi;  in  btudying  the  peculiarities  of  the  route 
will  find  'hem  set  forth  in  Whipple's  Rapor', 
Volume  IIL  Pacific  Railioad  Reports,  and  in 
Bei'le  o  it  port  of  his  wagon-roid  expedition.  The 
routes  ft\  m  California  are  by  Los  Angelos  to  Fort 
Mohave,  on  the  Colorado,  three  hundred  miles,  and 
thence  to  ia,e  mines  direct,  one  huadred  aud  fifty 
miles,  or  up  the  Colorado  from  the  gulf  to  La 
Paz  and  across  as  before  mentioned.  A  Btage  line 
Is  propos  d  from  Los  Angelos  to  Fort  Mohave, 
and  it  It-  >  nderstood  that  the  Arizona  otSaers  h  ive 
asked  the  establishment  ot  a  null  route  from  Al- 
buquen.ue  to  Fort  Mohave  by  the  W aippte  routs. 
This  wiil  bo  upon  the  thirty-lifth  degree  parallel, 
which  n.nuy  have  always  held  to  be  the  best  over- 
land route  to  the  Pacific,  and  the  only  one  entirely 
practicable  for  a  railroad.  It  is  believed  here  that 
If  stages  were  put  upon  this  road  they  would  go 
crowded  n  om  the  start.  The  rush  to  the  mines 
in  the  ej  ring  will  probably  surpass  anything  in 
the  Calnornia  furore.  New  Mexico  and  Colora- 
do wiil  bo  well-nigh  depopulated  if  one-half  of 
those  go  who  now  propose  to  do  so. 


TOB   OAI'ITAL    OF   AKIZONA. 

When  Governor  Goodwin  and  party  started  from 
Jtansas,  it  was  their  intention  to  go  to  Tucson  bv 
the  old  road  by  way  of  Mexilla;  not  that  they 
thongl  t  of  making  a  permanent  capital  of  that 
poor],  located  and  unhealthy  town,  bat  because 
a*  the  clue,  settlement  in  the  territory,  it  seemed 
to  be  the  proper  .point  for  locating  the  *overn-  I 
■«"t  turtll  a  better  site  could  be. chosen?   Now  , 
that  the  woplc  of  that  place,  with  barely  an  ar.  ■ 
reption,  have  gone  to  the  mines,  and  the  waolo  ! 
population  of  the  territory  la  gatacred  about  the  ' 
gold  flelda,  it  would  be  lolly  to  go  there,  and  the 
officials  have  determined  to  go  from  here  direct  y 
to  the  legion  explored  by  General  Clara.    It  is  in 
every  particular  a  superior  country  to  that  about  ■ 
Tucson,  wtueh,  ,,,„„  from  being  fa  ^  Jar  ^^ 

em  part  of  the  territory,  is  alike  oppressively  hot,  i 
sickly  and  unproductive.    The  story  of  the  soldier 
who  died  at  Fort  Yuma,  and  returned  there  from  ' 
Tophet  for  h.s  blankets,  saying  that  his  newabo  le  ,' 
was  chilly  when  compared  with  the  temperature 
Ho  had  been  used  to,  might  havebecn  told  of  Tuc- 
son  with  equal  propriety. 

If  the  capital  of  the  new  territory  be  fixed  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  new  placers,  it  will  be  geographically 
cential.  at  an  elevation  insuring  a  cool  and  whole- 
some enmaie,  and  in  a  comparatively  good  agricnl- 
twal  district    From  the  Colorado  river,  navigable 
»t  nil  eeaee.ne  as  far  up  as  Fort  Mohave,  It  will  be 
«a*ily  neched  from  a  half  dozen  points,  aud  from 
Tucwm  and  the  region  south  to  Sonora  it  will  be 
•cccfaible  by  way  ol   the  Pimos  villages.    More- 
over, storting  the  territorial  government  amon*  a 
population  mainly  American,  and  freshly  arrived 
to  the  country,  there  will  be  no  old  prejudices  to 
©verconie,  no  inimical  laws  to  contend  with  and 
no  conflicting  interests  of  long  standing  to  be 
reconciled.    The  difficultly  encountered  in  New 
Mexico  will  happily  be  escaped,  and  should  the 
gold  supplies  hold  out  as  at  present,  of  which 

I  E.l!10  d°Ubt'  there  is  alike  a  brilliant  and 
useful  future  for  the  new  territory  of  which  its 
wnmest  irieuds  have  net  dared  to  dream. 

A  mtW  FORT. 

With  the  entry  of  the  civil  functionaries  and 
their  awumption  ol  the  government  of  Arizona 
Carieton  wUl  relinquish  his  post  as  military  gov' 
ernor,  retaining,  however,  the  district  as  a  part  of 
bis  department.    Three  companies  of  California 
wvalrj  were  started  from  here  on  the  first  of  the 
month  to  establish  a  post  near  the  new  „,m6s  ^ 
U  called  Fort  Whipple,  in  honor  of  the  gallant 
lieutenant  who  surveyed  the  road  now  destined  to 
become  famous,  and  the  honored  general  who  fell 
at  ChanceUorsville.    The  post  is  needed  not  only 
for  a  protection  to  the  miners  against  possible 
trouble  with  the  Indians,  but  also  to  regulate 
the   Bonorians,    who   have   lately    reached    the 
ttlnee  m  large  numbers,  and  have  created  some 
disturbance   by   their  attempts  to  monopolixe 
toe   placers.    Not  content  with  finding  treasure 
Vhere  they  hare  no  claim,  these  Invaders  have  un- 
dertaken  to  drive  various  Americans  from  the 

^,,  £  j°,erated  **  •  »««mi  Fort  Whipple  ! 
*W  be  at  once  garrisoned  with  a  suitable  foree  i 
lata  will  probably  be  tie  point  U  *£**!£&  ' 


torial  officers  will  remain  until  a  capital  site  is 
chosen.  In  connection  with  the  location  of  Fort 
Whipple,  General  Carieton  has  directed  an  investi- 
gation to  be  mode  with  a  view  to  finding  a  rovi 
fiom  the  mining  region  to  the  Colorado  in  a  direst 
line,  to  touch  the  river  at  a  point  south  of  Fort 
Mohave  end  north  of  La  Paz.  If  a  practicable 
rood  Is  found  It  will  be  the  one  by  which  the  Cali- 
fornia's will  reach  the  mines,  and  will  consider- 
ably shorten  the  distance  to  the  Colorado. 

AFFAIRS  IN  NBW  MEXICO. 

While  New  Mexico  Is  temporarily  overshadowed 

I  by  the  dazzling  rising  of  Arizona,  her  prosperity 

1  is   steadily  increasing.    This  ancient  city  of  the 

I  holy  faith  of  St.  Francis  bears  the  marks  of  im- 

I  proYcment.    Its  trade  is  large  and  valuable.    The 

■  amount  of  goods  brought  lrom  the  states  wit] 

1  the  present  year  is  enormous.    The  arrival 

!  Governor  Goodwin  and  party  h:is  created  an  1 

jj  mense  sensation.    Governor  Connolly  and  othi 

I  officials  went  out  to  meet  them  and  to  escort  tUe:n 

into  the  city,  and   every  man,  woman  aud  child 

seemed  eager  to  witness  the  entry.    The  Arizon- 

ians  have  been  feasted  and  toasted,  and  though 

now  here  for  more  than  a  weak,  they  are  the  ab- 

i  eorbing  topic  ol  conversation,  while  it  ia  the  am- 

j  bition  ot  hundreds  to  accompany  them  to  their 

land  of  gold.    They  will  go  forward  in  a  few  days, 

escorted  by  a  company  ot  Missouri  cavalry,  pirt 

I  ot  their  escort  from  the  states,  and  a  detachment 

of  men  from  Kit  Carson's  regiment,  commanded 

by  his  lieutenant-colonel. 

THE  NAVAJO  WAR. 

Eeferring  to  Kit,  Carson,  who,  by  tho  by,  Is  urged 
for  a  brigndiership,  aad  is  richly  daserviug  the 
hor.or,  I  em  reminded  of  the  Navajo  war,  with  an 
allusion  to  which  this  communication  may  be 
closed.  It  is  generally  known  that  the  Navajos 
have  lor  many  years  been  hostile  to  t  le  United 
SUitte.  When  nominally  at  peace  they  have  baoa 
ceaseless  in  tl.sir.  depredations  upon  the  whites. 
Not,  perhaps,  without  some  degree  of  provocation, 
(or  it  is  notorious  ttat  there  is  scarcely  a  well-to- 
do  Mexican  family  in  the  country  that  has  not  a 
Navajo  Biave  to  do  its  bidding.  It  is  a  badge  of 
aristocracy.  These  poor  creatures  have  been  kid- 
napped with  an  audacity  that  would  put  a  Legree 
to  the  blush,  and  are  retained  without  a  shadow  of 
right. 

Again,  the  Navajos  are  the  most  enterprising, 
Intelligent  and  industrious  Indians  in  the  laud. 
As  a  consequence  their  larms  are  highly  culti- 
vated; they  have  fine  crops  and  excellent  « 
I  and  are  indeed  rich  in  this  world's  goods.    Taey 
present  a  teinpiatten  which    ths  utisertjj; 
pale-face,  no  less  than  the  jealous  red  man  of 
other  tribes,  cannot  resist,  and  as  they  are  quick 
to  delend  their  rights,  they  are  naturally  much 
involved  in  war.    Their  present  crusade  isajainst  ! 
all  white  men,  and  is  waged  with  great  ferocity, 
though  not  a  few  of  the  tribe  have,  from  hunger 
end  a  belief  that  they  would  be  well  used,  surren- 
dered themselves  to  General  Carieton. 

On  Saturday  nearly  two  hundred  arrived  in  this 
city  en  their  way  to  the  Bosque  Rodoudo,  near 
Fort  Sumner,  where  a  reservation  has  been  pro- 
vided lor  them.  The  policy  of  Genera  Cirleton 
is  to  induce  the  tribe  to  accept  a  permanent  reser- 
vation and  live  upon  it  under  the  protection  of 
the  government.  Several  of  the  minor  ehleft  who 
came  In  with  the  prisoners  think  that  when  flfe, 
desire  of  the  General  is  clearly  understood  by  WW 
tribe,  it  will  propose  terms  of  peace.  It  Is  therefore 
not  improbable  that  the  war  reluctantly  waged  by 
the  United  States,  and  so  profitless  to  the  Navijos, 
mny  soon  be  terminated— a  consummation  which 
all  good  men  must  devoutly  desire.  Maok. 


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